I spent almost two hours last Friday night playing with the new Bernina 8 Series. I almost fell off the chair. That machine is amazing (and I only used the pro model, only for stores) I was expecting a pair of hands to come out of the machine and help me. Did I say it was amazing? I want one soooooo bad!!!!! Unfortunately we need a new car before I can get a $12,000 sewing machine.

That is what I do now. I can make some quite complicated quilting with my domestic machine. I do have an embroidery machine that I love because it doesn't sew and I can sew on my old Bernina while embroidering with my Brother. This new Bernina can do much more to embroidery designs that mine can not do. Also, it has hundreds of stitched built in and the embroidery hoop is 3 times the size of mine. One more thing, The neck area is 12 inches (needle to base), when my machine now has 7 inches. When making a big quilt it makes a world of a difference.

I am trying to start my own bussiness quilting and sewing, so maybe some day I can own something so fancy.

I was invited to test the new Pfaff Creative Vision machine. It was a fun event where 9 other ladies and I tried out the machine under the direction of a Pfaff representative. This machine also has all the bells and whistles, a huge hoop for embroidery, 500 stitches, 10 inches from needle to neck, USB, etc, etc, etc. It was amazing!!! We filled out response surveys at the end of the 3 hour event, but the final question asked how likely we were to purchase one. I had to check off 'not very likely,' mostly due to the $8000 price tag, but also because I am content with my mechanical Bernina and my 1948 Singer! Somehow I don't feel like I am sewing when I use these machines that can do so much!

I felt the same way with the new Brother Quatro...
I just bought a 4500D for 4200$ in May...
There is no way I can justify an 8000K machine...I could hardly justify my new one!!!
Nice though...I got to look at the Quattro and the new Viking Diamond...if I could do nothing but sew...those are the machines...
K

I feel your pain! We went to the Des Moines AQS show, and boy were there toys to try! The nice thing is being able to compare so many machine brands at one time; the down side is that it can (and did!) get confusing.

I confess, I saw the new Bernina but I was test-driving long arms :oops:

I just saw the new Baby Lock machine with the big embroidery hoop. You can do large quilt blocks with it. A little piece of paper with a cross in the middle is placed anywhere on the fabric and the machine with find it and center your embroidery. Amazing but way to expensive for me.

I'm with you guys...the new machines are amazing, but there is NO WAY I can justify an 8-12K sewing machine. I'm sure there are people out there that can afford to just plop down that much..(I'm certainly not 1 of them), but I really wonder..do the manufacturers think these will fly off the shelf to the masses?